GREENBOOK
PROJECTWISE CIVIL 3D
ADVANCED INTEGRATION
ProjectWise Integration Server
AutoCAD Civil 3D
Civil
Collaboration
www.Bentley.com
communities.Bentley.com/GreenBook
First Edition (March 2013)
Applies to:
ProjectWise V8i (SELECTseries 4) Edition 8.11.11.111 and AutoCAD Civil 3D 2012 or 2013 (32-bit or 64bit)
Disclaimer: The following information contains extracts, data, application examples, installations and configurations
that are believed to be accurate at the time of their publication. Bentley Professional Services is constantly updating the
technical details which are subject to revisions. Bentley Professional Services strives to present the information in an
accurate manner, but does not guarantee its completeness or validity.
The material provided in this guide is advisory only and the use is completely voluntary. Bentley Professional Services
makes no warranties, expressed or implied, in connection with this information. Any use or application of this
information will be at the user’s sole risk and responsibility. Bentley will not be responsible for any loss, claims for
damages arising out of the use or application of this information.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
1.0 INTRODUCTION TO GREENBOOK ............................................................................... 4 2.0 ABOUT THE AUTHOR(S) ................................................................................................ 5 3.0 DOCUMENT OVERVIEW ................................................................................................ 6 4.0 INSTALLING PROJECTWISE INTEGRATION SUPPORT FOR CIVIL 3D ................. 8 4.1 CLIENT INSTALLATION ................................................................................................. 8 4.1.1 CLIENT REQUIREMENTS ............................................................................................... 8 4.1.2 CLIENT INSTALLATION AND SETUP .......................................................................... 8 4.2 SERVER INSTALLATION ................................................................................................ 9 4.2.1 ADD MIME TYPE TO THE REGISTRY ON PROJECTWISE SERVERS ..................... 9 4.2.2 ADD CIVIL 3D APPLICATION DEFINITIONS TO THE DATASOURCES ............... 10 5.0 BEST PRACTICES ........................................................................................................... 11 5.1 WORKING WITH DATA SHORTCUTS ........................................................................ 11 5.1.1 CREATE DATA SHORTCUTS ....................................................................................... 11 5.1.2 EXAMINE DATA SHORTCUTS IN PROJECTWISE.................................................... 15 5.1.3 CREATE DATA REFERENCES...................................................................................... 16 5.1.4 EXAMINE DATA REFERENCES IN PROJECTWISE .................................................. 20 5.2 IMPORT CIVIL 3D PROJECT IN PROJECTWISE ........................................................ 20 5.2.1 IMPORT CIVIL 3D PROJECT FILES INTO PROJECTWISE ....................................... 21 5.2.2 IMPORT DATA SHORTCUT PROJECT IN PROJECTWISE ....................................... 22 5.2.3 EXAMINE DATA REFERENCES IN IMPORTED PROJECT ...................................... 28 5.3 EXPORT CIVIL 3D PROJECT FROM PROJECTWISE ................................................ 29 5.3.1 EXPORT CIVIL 3D PROJECT FILES FROM PROJECTWISE ..................................... 29 5.3.2 EXPORT DATA SHORTCUT PROJECT FROM CIVIL 3D .......................................... 31 5.3.3 EXAMINE DATA REFERENCES IN EXPORTED PROJECT ...................................... 33 5.4 USING SURFACE FEATURES IN PROJECTWISE ...................................................... 34 5.4.1 IMPORT SURFACE FEATURES FILE INTO PROJECTWISE .................................... 34 5.4.2 ATTACH SURFACE FEATURES FILE ......................................................................... 35 5.4.3 EXAMINE SURFACE DRAWING AND COMPANION FILE ..................................... 36 GREENBOOK
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SECTION 1.0: INTRODUCTION TO GREENBOOK
1.0
Introduction to GreenBook
GreenBooks are created by Bentley Professional Services to provide “Best Practices” as it relates to
utilizing software solutions for the infrastructure lifecycle. This not only includes Bentley software,
but also other applications that are commonly used in infrastructure projects. The guides rely upon
hundreds of Bentley Professional Services colleagues around the world in documenting best
practices that have made our customers more efficient in their use of infrastructure software.
GreenBooks can take on various formats from a quick TechNote, How to Guide, Instructional
Manual, White Paper, to a full Book format. All GreenBooks are provided in PDF format for
downloading and printing. Because these are continually being updated with new information,
always check online for the latest revision.
GreenBooks are often first published in a Draft state. This allows for earlier access to potentially
valuable information. Due to this fact, draft documents are sometimes less polished and could
contain errors that a more extensive and time consuming review process would discover.
Bentley’s Be Communities is the delivery system that allows any Be Community member to
download and utilize best practices in their industry. Membership in the Be Community is free. To
sign up, visit http://communities.bentley.com. To find this GreenBook and others, visit
http://communities.bentley.com/products/projectwise/content_management/m/mediagallery/default.aspx
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SECTION 2.0: ABOUT THE AUTHOR(S)
2.0
About the Author(s)
Arnold van der Zijden is a Bentley Professional Services ProjectWise Consultant and has a degree in Civil
Engineering since 1974. From 1974 up to 1986 he worked as a system designer, developer and implementer of
technical information systems. In 1986 Arnold started working as Pre- and Post Sales Support Consultant,
supporting customers and prospects in the architectural, engineering and geographical markets in Europe,
Africa and the Middle East.
Arnold van der Zijden joined Bentley Systems in 2002. Since then he has been working as Product Marketing
Consultant and Professional Services Senior Consultant in Bentley’s International organization. Arnold has
been responsible for developing system architecture designs and custom functional specifications, including
executing implementations and upgrades, for ProjectWise based solutions.
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SECTION 3.0: DOCUMENT OVERVIEW
3.0
Document Overview
ProjectWise does an excellent job of integrating with Autodesk’s AutoCAD, but fewer and fewer companies
are using just straight AutoCAD anymore. Many ProjectWise users are using multiple vertical design
applications such as AutoCAD Civil 3D or Autodesk Revit. Using those vertical design applications poses
new challenges for most document management systems.
For integration of Civil 3D with ProjectWise, Bentley provides the ProjectWise V8i (SELECTseries 4)
Integration module for AutoCAD Civil 3D. This module supports integration with AutoCAD Civil 3D 2012
and 2013 (32-bit and 64-bit). This integration deals with 3 primary areas, the Data Shortcut / Data Reference
workflows, support for the creation of surfaces and the integration of the Prospector Tree. Below is a short
description of each of these.
Data Shortcuts / Data References
Data shortcuts can be created for surfaces, alignments, profiles, pipe networks, and view frame groups. They
provide reference links between drawings without the use of a database. When you create data shortcuts from
a drawing, they appear on the Data Shortcuts node of the Prospector tree in Civil 3D. From this location, you
can insert a reference object (Data Reference) into another open drawing by right-clicking its shortcut. These
shortcuts are stored in .XML files in a directory structure with a specific hierarchy known as the Working
Folder. These folder paths and the files addresses in the XML files are absolute paths to the source documents.
As such this requires all the users involved in the project to have the same drive mapping and access to this
working directory. On a WAN and sometimes on a LAN this can be challenging and limiting. ProjectWise
integration with the Data Shortcut Working Directory solves these issues and manages the Data Shortcut paths
as well as the source documents alleviating this limitation.
The Civil 3D Working Fodler is managed in ProjectWise as a single zip file with the extension
“.CivilDSproj”. This file is added to the reference set of any Data Shortcut source file or any files that
contains a Data Reference. At the time of access this file is copied to the ProjectWise local working directory
and unzipped into the Working Directory that Civil 3D expects to see. During the unzip operation the paths of
the data shortcuts are remapped to a path that is relative to each user’s ProjectWise working folder path. The
ProjectWise integration performs the synchronization of any edits made to these files during the editing
process.
Working Folder Support
In non-integrated ProjectWise and Civil 3D the working folder is the parent folder on the local system where
Civil 3D stores Data Shortcut for the projects. When selecting the working folder with integrated ProjectWise
you will see that the dialog is now integrated with ProjectWise. This allows the creation or selection of a Data
Shortcuts Project Folder to be located in ProjectWise. Once the working folder and the Data Shortcuts Project
Folder are created in ProjectWise, the process for creating Data Shortcuts or using the Data Shortcut as a
reference are the same as when Civil 3D is not integrated with ProjectWise.
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Surface integration
The creation of surfaces dialogs are integrated with ProjectWise. Civil 3D has a mechanism for handling
operations with large surfaces. When saving a drawing containing a large surface (generally, over 1 million
points for a grid surface or a snapshot of a TIN surface, and over 2 million points for a TIN surface), the data
pertaining to the large surface is written to a separate file that is saved in the same location where the surface
drawing resides. The TIN surface companion files have the .mms file extension, and the grid surface files
have the .grs file extension. These are attached as satellite references to the DWG and ProjectWise manages
these as part of a set. This set is recognized by the ProjectWise open, copy, move, export & rename
operations.
Prospector Palette support
The Prospector palette within Civil3D is used to create and manage Data Shortcuts. From the Prospector
palette you can select a shortcut for an object and create a reference to that object in the active drawing.
The relevant prospector tree operations for Data Shortcuts & Surface features, including the right mouse click
operations, are integrated with ProjectWise.
The next chapters in this document provide details on the required installation and an outline of best practices
workflows for working with Civil 3D and Data Shortcuts in an integrated ProjectWise environment.
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SECTION 4.0: INSTALLING PROJECTWISE INTEGRATION SUPPORT FOR CIVIL 3D
4.0 Installing ProjectWise integration support for Civil 3D
The setup of the advanced integration of ProjectWise with Civil 3D requires the installation of this module on
the Client and also needs additional setup on the ProjectWise servers and in the ProjectWise Datasources.
4.1
Client Installation
4.1.1 Client Requirements
The advanced integration of ProjectWise with Civil 3D module has the following requirements:
Operating Windows XP SP2 (32-bit or 64-bit)
system Windows Vista SP2 (32-bit or 64-bit)
Windows 7 (32-bit or 64-bit)
Software AutoCAD Civil 3D 2013 or 2012 (32-bit or 64-bit)
Prerequisites ProjectWise Explorer V8i (SELECTseries 4)
Basic ProjectWise integration for AutoCAD Civil 3D 2013 or 2012 (see Release Notes)
Note: This integration module requires that you first install basic ProjectWise integration support for
AutoCAD Civil 3D, either through the ProjectWise Integration Module for AutoCAD 2013 if you are using
AutoCAD Civil 3D 2013, or through the ProjectWise Explorer V8i (SELECTseries 4) installer if you are
using AutoCAD Civil 3D 2012.
4.1.2 Client Installation and Setup
To Install the ProjectWise Integration Module for AutoCAD Civil 3D on the client perform the following
steps:
1. After downloading and extracting the installation package, double-click appropriate MSI file:
. 32-bit version - ProjectWise Integration Module for AutoCAD Civil 3D (x86).msi
. 64-bit version - ProjectWise Integration Module for AutoCAD Civil 3D (x64).msi
2. When the Setup Wizard opens, click Next.
3. When the License Agreement page opens, accept the agreement and click Next.
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4. On the Custom Setup page, turn on the AutoCAD Civil 3D integration module and click Next.
5. When the Ready to Install the Program page opens, click Install.
6. When installation is complete, click Finish.
4.2
Server Installation
4.2.1 Add MIME Type to the Registry on ProjectWise Servers
The integration module installs on the client a file called CivilDSProjExtensionToMIMEMapping.reg,
which is used to add the MIME type for the data shortcut project file (*.CivilDSProj) to the Windows registry
on all of your ProjectWise server computers. This is an Administrator task. A restart of the ProjectWise
Integration Server is NOT required after the .REG file is installed.
To add the MIME Type to the registry on the ProjectWise Server Computer follow the next steps:
1. On a computer where the integration module is installed, open Windows Explorer and go to one of the
following locations, depending on which version is installed:
o 32-bit location - C:\Program Files\Bentley (x86)\ProjectWise\bin\AutoCAD
o 64-bit location - C:\Program Files\Bentley\ProjectWise\bin\AutoCAD
2. Copy the CivilDSProjExtensionToMIMEMapping.reg file and paste it somewhere on the
ProjectWise server computer.
3. Double-click the CivilDSProjExtensionToMIMEMapping.reg file.
The data shortcut project file MIME type (application/zip.civil3d) is added to the registry.
4. Repeat this procedure on each of your ProjectWise Integration, Gateway, and Caching Server
computers.
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4.2.2 Add Civil 3D Application Definitions to the Datasources
The integration module also installs on the client a file called Civil3D.appinfo.xml, which is used to add the
necessary AutoCAD Civil 3D application associations to each datasource that is using AutoCAD Civil 3D
advanced integration. This is an Administrator task.
To Import the AutoCAD Civil 3D Application Definitions to the Datasource Using DMSCONV.EXE (admin
task) follow the steps below:
1. On a computer where the integration module is installed, open Windows Explorer and go to one of the
following locations, depending on which version is installed:
o 32-bit location - C:\Program Files\Bentley (x86)\ProjectWise\bin\AutoCAD
o 64-bit location - C:\Program Files\Bentley\ProjectWise\bin\AutoCAD
2. Copy the Civil3D.appinfo.xml file and paste it somewhere on the ProjectWise Integration Server
computer.
3. Stop the service for ProjectWise Integration Server in the Services window.
4. On the ProjectWise Integration Server computer, open a command prompt and navigate to the
...\ProjectWise\bin directory.
5. Run the DMSCONV.EXE utility using the following syntax:
dmsconv.exe -d ODBCDataSourceName -u DatabaseUserName -p Password -appfile
"Full_Path_To\Civil3D.appinfo.xml"
The following new file extension / application associations are added:
o CivilDSProj="AutoCAD Civil3D Data Shortcut Project File"
o MMS="TIN Surface Companion File"
o GRS="Grid Surface Companion File"
o TIN="TIN Surface File"
o DEM="Grid Surface File"
6. Repeat step 5 for each datasource that is using AutoCAD Civil 3D advanced integration.
7. Restart the service for ProjectWise Integration Server when finished.
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SECTION 5.0: BEST PRACTICES
5.0
5.1
Best Practices
Working with Data Shortcuts
This section outlines a workflow that shows how you can effectively manage Civil 3D data in ProjectWise.
Before describing how to manage Data shortcuts in ProjectWise, it might be helpful to understand the
definition of a Data Shortcut:
A data shortcut provides a complete reference copy of an object that you can import from one drawing into
one or more other drawings. In order for multiple users to use a data shortcut, it must be stored in a network
location that is accessible to all users. You can use data shortcuts to reference surface, alignment, profile, pipe
network, and view frame group objects. If a referenced object is changed in the source drawing, changes are
updated in any drawings that reference the object.
Using data shortcuts in Civil 3D projects involves two main processes:

Create data shortcuts from their source drawings.

Create data references in drawings to source objects in source drawings.
This section outlines the following steps:
1. Create Data Shortcuts
a. Set Working Folder
b. Create New Data Shortcuts Project Folder
c. Create Data Shortcuts in Project
2. Examine Data Shortcuts in ProjectWise
3. Create Data References
4. Examine Data References in ProjectWise
5.1.1 Create Data Shortcuts
A data shortcut provides a direct path to the location of a shareable source object, either a surface,
alignment, profile, pipe network, or view frame group. In a single operation, you can create data
shortcuts for multiple objects in a source drawing. The data shortcut is used only for the creation of
data references.
5.1.1.1 Set Working Folder
The working folder is the parent folder where Civil 3D stores Data Shortcut for the projects. When selecting
the working folder with integrated ProjectWise you will see that the dialog is now integrated with
ProjectWise. This allows the creation or selection of a Data Shortcuts Project Folder to be located in
ProjectWise. Once the working folder and the Data Shortcuts Project Folder are created in ProjectWise, the
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process for creating Data Shortcuts or using the Data Shortcut as a reference are the same as when Civil 3D is
not integrated with ProjectWise.
To set the Working Folder follow the next steps:
1. In ProjectWise Explorer open a Civil 3D Source drawing
2. Open the Toolspace palette in Civil 3D 3. In the Prospector tab Right-click the Data Shortcuts collection.
4. Click Set Working Folder
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5. In the Select Folder dialog box, navigate to the Working Folder in ProjectWise, e.g. the same folder
where the open source drawing is located. Click OK
5.1.1.2 Create New Data Shortcuts Project Folder
The Data Shortcuts Project folder is used for storing a set of related project drawings and data shortcuts.
To create a new Data Shortcuts Project Folder follow the steps below:
1. In the Prospector tab Right-click the
Data Shortcuts collection.
2. Click New Data Shortcuts Project Folder.
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3. In the New Data Shortcut Folder dialog box, under Name enter the project Name, e.g. Project_1.
4. Click OK.
5.1.1.3 Create Data Shortcuts in Project
Next step is to create the data shortcuts from the objects in a source drawing. These data shortcuts will be
available to reference into other drawings.
To create the Data Shortcuts from the source drawing follow the steps below:
1. In the Prospector tab Right-click the
Data Shortcuts collection.
2. Click Create Data Shortcuts.
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3. In the Create Data Shortcuts dialog box, select the following check boxes:
a. Surfaces
b. Alignments
This action selects the EG surface and both alignments in the source drawing.
4. Click OK.
5. Save source drawing.
6. Close source drawing.
7. Click Check In.
5.1.2 Examine Data Shortcuts in ProjectWise
When you create data shortcuts from a source drawing in non-integrated Civil 3D, these shortcuts are stored in
.XML files in a directory structure in the Working Directory
When Civil 3D is integrated with ProjectWise the Civil 3D Working Directory is managed in ProjectWise as a
single zip file with the extension “.CivilDSproj”. This file is added in ProjectWise to the reference set of any
Data Shortcut source file.
.CivilDSproj Working Directory
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Dependencies of Data Shortcuts
5.1.3 Create Data References
A data reference is a read-only copy of a source object, inserted into another drawing, often called a consumer
drawing. From the Prospector tab, you can select a shortcut for an object and create a reference to that object
in the active drawing. The data reference maintains an active link to the source object in the source drawing,
without relying on the data shortcut.
Referenced objects automatically update when you open a file in which you have referenced data. During a
drawing session, you are notified when a source drawing has been modified, both in the Communication
Center, and in the Prospector tab of Toolspace.
To create Data References in consumer drawings follow the next steps:
1. In ProjectWise Explorer open a Civil 3D Consumer drawing
2. Open the Toolspace palette in Civil 3D 3. In the Prospector tab, in the
Reference.
Data Shortcuts
Surfaces collection, right-click EG. Click Create
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4. Click Create Reference.
5. In the Create Surface Reference dialog box, click OK.
The EG surface is displayed in the drawing using the style that you specified.
Note: If you cannot see the surface, enter ZE on the command line.
Now that the data shortcuts have been referenced, the current drawing is associated with the data
shortcuts project. Notice that, in the AutoCAD Civil 3D title bar, [Tutorial Data Shortcuts Project] is
displayed after the drawing name.
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6. In Toolspace, on the Prospector tab, expand the consumer drawing
Notice that the EG surface is displayed in the Surfaces collection. The
surface was created from a data shortcut.
Surfaces collection.
icon indicates that the
Next create an Alignment Reference.
7.
In the
Data Shortcuts
Alignments collection, right-click First Street. Click Create Reference.
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8.
In the Create Alignment Reference dialog box, click OK.
The alignment is displayed in the drawing.
8. Save consumer drawing.
9. Close consumer drawing.
10. Click Check In.
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5.1.4 Examine Data References in ProjectWise
ProjectWise integrated Civil 3D manages Data References by adding the .CivilDSproj file to the reference set
of any consumer drawing that contains a Data reference.
Dependencies of Data References in consumer drawing
5.2
Import Civil 3D project in ProjectWise
This section describes best practices for importing a Civil 3D project into ProjectWise. Importing a Civil 3D
project into ProjectWise involves the following steps:
1. Import Civil 3D project files into ProjectWise.
a. Import project files into ProjectWise.
b. Remove unneeded shortcut folder & Data Shortcuts source files (Optional). These files will
be imported separately in step 2.
c. Run Scan for References on imported project files (Optional).
2. Import Data Shortcut project in ProjectWise.
a. In Civil 3D Import Data Shortcut project and source files.
b. Set Working Folder.
c. Set Data Shortcuts Project Folder.
d. Establish Relationships to consumer drawings
3. Examine Data References in imported project.
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5.2.1 Import Civil 3D project files into ProjectWise
5.2.1.1 Import project files into ProjectWise
Import Civil 3D project files into ProjectWise using the standard ProjectWise import tools. Use either Dragand-Drop or one of the ProjectWise import commands.
1. In Windows Explorer select the folders/documents to import.
2. In ProjectWise Explorer select the folder for folders/documents to import.
3. Drag-and-drop selected data in ProjectWise.
4. Click OK.
5.2.1.2 Remove unneeded shortcut folder and Data Shortcuts source files (Optional)
Delete the Data Shortcuts folders and source files when these are imported in the previous step. These files
will be created in Civil 3D by the ProjectWise Import Data Shortcut Project command.
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5.2.1.3 Run Scan for References on imported project files (Optional)
When the imported CAD project files have references to other files, run the Scan for References command in
ProjectWise Explorer to update the links from the master file to the referenced files.
5.2.2 Import Data Shortcut project in ProjectWise
The next step is to import the Data Shortcut project data in ProjectWise. This In Civil 3D ProjectWise
Explorer select the project to export.
5.2.2.1 Import Data Shortcut project and source files into ProjectWise
To import the Data Shortcut project and source files follow the next steps:
1. Select the Import Data Shortcut Project command from the ProjectWise Ribbon Bar in Civil 3D (or
type DSImport on the command line).
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2. In the Browse for Folder dialog select the Windows folder that has the Data Shortcut project data.
3. Select the project to import.
4. Browse to the ProjectWise folder where the Data Shortcut files will be imported.
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5. Next browse to the right folder where the source drawings will be imported.
Click Save.
6. Accept the default location if all your source files will be stored in the same ProjectWise folder.
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5.2.2.2 Set Working Folder
The working folder is the parent folder where Civil 3D stores Data Shortcut for the projects. After importing
the project Data Shortcuts project in ProjectWise the right Working Folder needs to be set.
To set the Working Folder follow the next steps:
1. In the Prospector tab in Civil 3D Right-click the
Data Shortcuts collection.
2. Click Set Working Folder
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3. In the Select Folder dialog box, navigate in ProjectWise Explorer to the Working Folder of the
imported project. Click OK.
5.2.2.3 Set New Data Shortcuts Project Folder
The Data Shortcuts Project folder is used for storing a set of related project drawings and data shortcuts.
To create a new Data Shortcuts Project Folder follow the steps below:
1. In the Prospector tab Right-click the
Data Shortcuts collection.
2. Click Set Data Shortcuts Project Folder.
3. In the New Data Shortcut Folder dialog box, under Name enter the project Name, e.g. Project_2.
4. Click OK.
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5.2.2.4 Establish Relationships to Consumer Drawings
All project files are now imported in ProjectWise. The Data Shortcuts project file (.CivilDSProj file) is
created. Next step is to set the right relationships in the imported consumer drawings. To set the right
relationship the following steps are required for each of these consumer drawings:
1. Open the consumer drawing from ProjectWise Explorer in Civil 3D.
2. Click OK.
3. Save source drawing.
4. Close source drawing.
5. Click Check In.
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5.2.3 Examine Data References in imported project
After establishing the relationships of data references in imported consumer drawing, the references in the
Dependency Viewer tab in ProjectWise Explorer show the links.
Dependencies of Data References in imported consumer drawing
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5.3
Export Civil 3D Project from ProjectWise
This section outlines a workflow that shows how to export a Civil 3D project from ProjectWise.
Exporting a Civil 3D project from Projectwise involves the following steps:
4. Export Civil 3D project files from ProjectWise
5. Export Data Shortcut project in Civil 3D
6. Examine Data References in exported project
5.3.1 Export Civil 3D project files from ProjectWise
5. In ProjectWise Explorer select the project to export
6. Right mouse Select Export
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7. Select Send to Folder
8. Set Export folder.
9. Turn on ”Update documents to use local paths for references and links” to fix the references paths
during export.
10. Click Next.
11. Click Finish.
12. Goto Windows folder with exported project.
13. Remove not needed exported files (.Civil DSProj file and source drawing).
These files will be exported by the Civil 3D Data Shortcut Export command (see next step).
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5.3.2 Export Data Shortcut project from Civil 3D
1. Open Civil 3D.
2. In Civil 3D select ProjectWise Ribbon bar.
3. Select Export (or type DSExport on the command line).
4. Select the project Short Cuts file (.CivilDSProj extension)
5. Click Open.
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6. Select same Windows folder as used in ProjectWise.
7. Click OK.
This will export the folder structure for the Data Shortcuts and also the source drawings.
Next step is to Modify Data Shortcut Working folder to Windows path and Set Data Shortcuts folder.
1. In the Prospector tab in Civil 3D Right-click the Data Shortcuts collection.
2. Click Set Working Folder.
3. Modify Data Shortcut Working folder to Windows path.
4. Click Select from disk.
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5. Select Windows Data shortcuts folder. Click OK.
6. Set Data Shortcut folder.
7. Select Folder. Click OK.
5.3.3 Examine Data References in exported project
In Civil 3D open consumer drawing from Windows folder and check data references paths.
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5.4
Using Surface Features in ProjectWise
A surface is a three-dimensional of an area of land, or, in the case of volume surfaces, is a difference or
composite between two surface areas. Surfaces are made up of triangles or grids, which are created when
AutoCAD Civil 3D connects the points that make up the surface data. In AutoCAD Civil 3D you can build,
edit, and save large surfaces. The term “large surface” applies to a surface with a number of points exceeding
one million (generally, 1 million points for a grid surface or a snapshot of a TIN surface, and 2 million points
for a TIN surface).
AutoCAD Civil 3D has a mechanism for handling operations with large surfaces. When saving a drawing
containing a large surface, the data pertaining to the large surface is written to a separate file that is saved in
the same location where the surface drawing resides. These TIN surface companion files have the .mms file
extension, and the grid surface files have the .grs file extension. The file name of a surface companion file has
the <drawing_name>_<surface object handle>.mms format.
The dialogs for the creation of surfaces are integrated with ProjectWise. The surface companion files are
attached as satellite references to the DWG and ProjectWise manages these as part of a set. This set is
recognized by the ProjectWise open, copy, move, export & rename operations.
This section describes best practices for using surfaces in a Civil 3D project in ProjectWise. Use the following
steps:
1. Import surface features file into ProjectWise.
2. Attach surface features file in Civil 3D.
3. Examine surface drawing and companion file.
5.4.1 Import Surface Features file into ProjectWise
Import a surface feature file into ProjectWise using the standard ProjectWise import tools. Use either Dragand-Drop or one of the ProjectWise import commands.
1.
2.
3.
4.
In Windows Explorer select the Surface Feature file to import.
In ProjectWise Explorer select the surfaces folder.
Drag-and-drop selected surface feature file in ProjectWise.
Click OK.
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5.4.2 Attach Surface Features file
1. In Civil 3D open a surface drawing.
2. On the Home Ribbon Bar under Create Ground Data group, select Surfaces
3. Click Create Surface from DEM.
4. Browse in ProjectWise to the folder and select the DEM file to attach.
5. Click Open.
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This will load the DEM file and also, for very large files, a companion file will be created where the
overflow points will be stored
Note: If you cannot see the surface, enter ZE on the command line.
6. Select Save As and select in ProjectWise the same folder where the DEM file is located.
7. Click Save.
8. Close drawing.
9. Check In drawing.
5.4.3 Examine Surface drawing and companion file
After saving the surface drawing Civil 3D created the companion file and the ProjectWise integration adds the
companion file into the ProjectWise drawing’s folder. During the check in process a set is created in
ProjectWise, including the surface drawing and the companion file.
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